Collapsible stand for golf bags



Sept 1, 1959 w. R. TOLMAN COLLAPSIBLE STAND FOR GOLF BAGS Filed Feb. 4, 1958 2 Sheets-sheaf. 1

I INVENTOR.

Sept. 1, 1959 w. RQTOLMAN COLLAPSIBLE STAND FOR GOLF BAGS Filed Feb. 4, 1958 INVENTOR.

United States Patent Ofiice Patented Sept. 1,. 1959 COLLAPSIBLE STAND FOR GOLF BAGS 1 Warren R. Tolman, McCook, Nebr. Application February 4, 1958, Serial No. 713,212

'4 Claims. (Cl. 248-96) This invention relates to golf bag stands, its purpose being to provide a means for holding a golf bag in an upright position, which can be carried with the bag and automatically extended to the operative position when the bag is transferred to the ground from the carrying position and automatically retracted to the inoperative position when the bag is removed from the ground.

One of the objects of the invention is the provision of a collapsible golf bag stand which automatically extends to the operative position and-retracts to the inoperative position with no manipulation required on the part of the golfer, the extending being accomplished in conjunction with the natural occurring motion executed by the golfer in removing the bag from the shoulder position and allowing it to swing freely to the ground using the handle as a pivot; and the retracting being entirely automatic when the bag is lifted from the upright position on the ground. The extending into the operative position can be accomplished equally as well by the same technique when the hand handle is used to carry the golf bag.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a mechanism which in the retracted position is flush with the sides of the bag and provides no obstruction to encumber the golfer while the bag is being carried in any manner.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an vertical hinged leg and two rotating horizontal legs in combination with two springs providing automatic action,

which are provided with means for attachment to the 7 golf bag. 7

Another object of the invention is the provision of a adjustable feature on the longitudinally extending support whereby the golf bag stand may be detachably secured to golf bags of various length and arrangement of the base assembly mechanism such that it may be adapted to bags of various diameters.

Other objects and advantages will be set out in the course of the description and claims.

The invention will hereinafter be described with referi ence to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the golf bag stand of this invention in its inoperative carrying position, with a phantom golf bag in place on the stand.

Fig. 2 is a bottom view of the golf bag stand illustrating the horizontal legs in retracted position.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation view of the lower portion of the golf bag stand in section upon line 33 of Figure 2 showing the details of the base assembly with the legs retracted.

Fig. 4 is an end elevation view of the lower portion of the golf bag stand in section upon line 44 of Figure 3 showing details of the base assembly with the legs retracted.

Fig. 5 is a side elevation view of the golf bag stand secured to a golf bag, the stand being in its inoperative position, and showing an arc describing the path of motion of the upright leg pivot point as the legs are extended.

Fig. 6 is a bottom view of the golf bag stand showing the legs in extended operative position.

Fig. 7 is a sideelevation view of the lower portion of the golf bag stand secured to a golf bag, showing the legs in extended position.

The collapsible golf bag stand comprises a base assem bly consisting of a base plate 11 having a bag engaging flange 10 rigidly afiixed thereto, as in Fig. 1..

Flange 10 of the base assembly is provided with a;- longitudinal extending support rigidly secured to flange; 10, such as the rod or tube 13, as shown in Fig. 3, with said rod being a little shorter than a golf bag. The term rod as usedherein, is intended to cover a hollow rod, namely a tube. The rod or tube 13 carries a parallel rod 12 aflixed to it which is of less length than rod 13 and which extends a small distance below the base of the golf bag and golf bag stand base assembly, as shown in Fig. 5. Rod 12 is the actuating leg of the golf bag stand and swings outward from rod 13 in the vertical plane of line 33 of Fig. 2 about a hinge 28 on its upper extremity. This hinge 28 is afiixed to the longitudinally extending rod 13 by bracket 22 as shown in Fig. 5.

Longitudinally extending rod 13 is also provided at its upper extremity with clamp 14 of suitable shape to engage the rim of a golf bag and through the outer side of rod 13 a set-screw 15 is passed to engage the portion of the trunk of clamp 14 contained within rod 13, as shown in Fig. 5, whereby the clamp 14 may be tightened within rod 13 to secure-the clamp rigidly to the latter and secure rod 13 rigidly to the golf bag.

Base plate 11 of the base assembly is provided on the bottom side with two rotating horizontal legs 16 and 17 in combination with slotted arms 18 and 19 afiixed rigidly to said horizontal legs 16 and 17 respectively, two coil springs 20 and 21 and'a sliding spacer 26 and crank pin 25 as shown in Fig. 2. I

' Rotating horizontal legs 16 and 17 are carried on the bottom side of base plate 11 on pivot pins or rivets 24, near one extremity of said legs allowing rotation .of said legs, as shown in Fig. 2, and angle downward on the outer portion of the opposite extremity, as shown in Fig. 3. Angling the outer portion of the'horizontal legs downward provides some additional length to said legs for stability of the golf bag stand in the extended operative position,

shown in Fig. 7. The horizontal legs 16 and 17 are shown in Fig. 4' to be of rod material as previously defined.

Rotating horizontal legs 16 and 17 are provided with slotted arms 18 and 19 rigidly afiixed perpendicular to legs 16 and 17 respectively at the pivoted end of said legs as shown in Fig. 2. The slotted arms are positioned at alternate levels allowing slotted arm 19 to ride on the upper surface of slotted arm 18 whenever the horizontal legs 16 and 17 are rotated as shown in Fig. 4.

A sliding spacer 26 with cars 29 is positioned between the lower surface of base plate 11 and the upper surface of slotted arm 19 as shown in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4.

Base plate 11 is provided with'an elongated slot 27 along its major axis in the direction of line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Base plate 11 is also provided with a crank pin 25 which passes freely through the elongated slot 27, the sliding spacer 26, and the slots in the cooperating slotted arms 18 and 19 as shown in Fig. 4. Rectilinear motion of crank pin 25 along slot 27 produces rotational motion of the horizontal legs 16 and 17 as the crank pin bears against the front or rear inner surface of the slotted arms 18 and 19.

A coil spring 20 is secured at its right extremity to eyelet 30 which is rigidly fixed to flange 10 and it is secured at its left extremity to an ear 29 on sliding spacer 26, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. This spring 20 is unstretched when the legs 16 and 17 are in the retracted position and the effect of spring 20 will be to draw slotted arms 18 and 19 into parallelism and thereby rotating the legs 16 and 17 into the retracted position from the extended operative position.

A coil spring 21 is secured at its right extremity to an ear 29 on sliding spacer 26 and it is secured at its left extremity to an eyelet 31 which is rigidly fixed on the inner side of the lower portion of rod .12, as shown in Fig. 3. This spring 21 is unstretched when the golf bag stand is in its retracted inoperative position and the effect of spring 21 will be to extend the horizontal legs '16 and '17 to their operative position by pulling crank pin 25 to the left along slot 27 when rod 12 is swung outward from rod 13, as shown in Fig. 3. Spring 21 will also return rod 12 to its normal inoperative position.

Rubber tips 32 are providedon the lower ends of rods 12, 16, and 17 to prevent the possibility of damage to other objects due to contact while the golf bag stand is being carried.

The terms left and right as used in this description refer to the left and right hand side respectively of ,the referenced figure while the term front is defined as that face of the golf bag stand on the left-hand side of Fig. and is the same face in all other figures.

The golf bag B is held in place on the base assembly by clamp 14 and strap 23 which may be of any desired type.

While the invention has been described in detail it should be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise details shown, for changes in size, shape and disposition of parts might be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

The use and operation of the invention are as follows:

The golf bag stand is attached to the golf bag and remains in place during storage, transport, and use of the golf bag on the golf course. It is of such compact design that during the storage and transport phases,,while in its retracted inoperative position, it produces a minimum of bulk on the outside of the bag.

The golfer carries the bag by the strap B or handle B which are the usual means used, in either hand and when he wishes to put the bag down he merely lowers the bag until the lower end of rod 12 comes into contact with the ground, as shown in Fig. 5. Then with a twist of the wrist he imparts a rearward swinging motion to the base of the bag which immediately separates rod 12 from rod 13, thereby extending coil spring 21 which pulls crank pin 25 alongthe elongated slot 27, which rotates horizontal lateral legs 16 and 17 to their extended operative position since the horizontal legs 16 and 17 move simultaneously with the slotted arms 18 and 19, and also extends coil spring 20 to provide tension for its function in the retraction cycle, as shown-in Fig. 6. The golfer now releases the handle of the golf bag and it is supported in an upright, slightly inclined, position bythe lower ends of legs 16 and 17 and rod 12 forming a plane of 3 points as shown in Figs. 6 and 7.

When the golfer moves on from this position he merely grasps the golf bagby the handle B or strap B lifts the bag and moves ofi. The instant the bag is removed from the ground, coil spring 20 retracts horizontal legs 16 and 17 by pulling crank pin 25 to 4 its normal inoperative position, which returns slotted arms 18 and 19 to a position where they are parallel; and simultaneously coil spring 21 returns rod 12 to its normal inoperative position parallel to rod 13.

Iclaim:

l. A collapsible stand for a golf bag comprising a flanged base plate capable of accepting and containing the lower end of a golf bag, a support secured to said base plate flange perpendicular to the plane of the base plate and extending longitudinally along the golf bag with means for detachably securing the golf bag, a leg extending parallel and hinged to. said support adapted to swing in a vertically disposed plane between length parallel and lower end displaced relation with in the associated said support, a plurality of legs pivoted upon the under side of said base plate adapted to rotate between a length parallel relation of said legs and a length lateral relation with the associated said baseplate, with all legs co-operating too.

2. A collapsible stand for a golf bag comprising a flanged base plate capable of accepting and containing the lower end of a golf bag, a support secured to said base plate flange perpendicular to the plane of the base plate and extending longitudinally along the golf bag, a leg extending parallel and hinged to said support adapted to swing in a vertically disposed plane between length parallel and lower end displaced relation with associated said support, a plurality of horizontal legs pivoted upon the under side of said base plate adapted to rotate between a length parallel relation of said legs and a length lateral relation with the associated base plate with the pivot points equally disposed from the longitudinal axis of said base plate near the extremities of the lateral axis of said base plate, an arm slotted along its length afiixed to the end nearest the pivot of each of said horizontal legs extending perpendicular from said legs in the horizontal plane toward the point of intersecting axes of said base plate, said base plate being provided with a longitudinally-median elongated slot for containing and guiding the movement of a crank pin passing jointly through said base plate slot and the slotted arm of each of said horizontal legs, the arrangement being such that rectilinear reciprocating motion of said crank pin in said base plate slot is converted into rotational motion of said horizontal legs.

3. The organization according to claim 2, wherein a tension spring one end affixed to said longitudinally extending leg with the opposite end aflixed to said crank pin provides automatic extension of said horizontal legs to their most outward operative position lateral to said base plate when said longitudinally extending leg is moved to its operative position and automatic retraction of said longitudinally extending leg when the golf bag is removed from the ground.

4. The organization according to claim 2, wherein a tension spring one end affixed to said crank pin and. the opposite end afiixed to the extremity of said base plate opposite to said longitudinally extending leg provides automatic retraction of said horizontal legs from their operative position when the golf bag is removed from the ground.

No references cited. 

